Lewis f



(No Model.)

. L. F. BBTTS.

LAMP SUPPGRT.

Patented Oct. 20, 1896.

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BY u, www: f mwgwm UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

LEVIS F. BETTS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE BET'IS PATENT HEAD LIGHT COMPANY, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

LAM P-SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 569,741, dated Oetober20, 1896.

Application filed October 7, 1895. Serial No. 564,881. (No model.)

VTo @ZZ wibo/1t it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEWIS F. BET'rs, a citizen of the United States, residing in Brooklyn, Kings county, in the State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Lamp-Supports, of which the following is a speeilication.

My invention is intended more especially for use on the dashboards of light carriages, and I will describe it as thus applied.

It will be understood that what I terni the dashboard is the ordinary shield ina-de of leather stretched on an iron frame carried at the front of the vehicle. My support is ada-pted to hold firmly against displacement by matching closely upon the thickened edge of the dashboard and to allow choice of a variety of positions for the lamp.

The accompanying drawings form a part oi' this specification and represent what I consider the best means of carrying out the inrention.

Figure I is a front `view of a portion oi' the carriage with my lamp-support attached at the upper edge and Vso adjusted as to carry the lamp in front below the top ot' the dashboard. Fig. 2 is a front View corresponding to Fig. l, but with the lampsupport extended upward, so as to carry the lamp above the dashboard. Fig. 3 is a corresponding side elevation. In addition to the other adjustments the holder may adjust the lamp forward or backward in either of its positions. The strong lines in this figure show the lamp carried in its forward position and the dotted lines in its rearward position. Fig. 4C is a View' corresponding to Fig. l, but with the lampsupport attached to one side of the dashboard and holding the lamp extended out from that side. rIhe remaining ligures are on a larger scale. Fig. 5 is a side elevation, partly in section and corresponding to Fig. I, but having the lamp in dotted lines. Fig. is a section of a portion corresponding to Fig. 5, showing a modification. Fig. 6 is a `front View showing one of the possible ways of arranging my support so that it extends obliquely downward and to one side, with the lamp shown in front in dotted lines. Fig. 7 is a side View showing a modification.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the iigures where they appear.

A- and B are the two halves of a clamp hinged together by the tongue or toe A', engaging in a hole b in the part B and confined and released by means otl a thumb-screw C. Below this each part has a portion widened and adapted to match partially around the outer and inner faces of the edge M of the dashboard M. Above the screw C and between it and the hinge A' h each part presents a hemisphere, as indicated by A2 32. In the center of the back face of the part B2 is a liberal aperture b2, in the forni of a Greek cross. For convenience of description I shall apply the terms upper and lower to these Variously-adjustable parts, assuming that the device is attached in the position shown in Figs. l, and G.

I will use the letter D to indicate the whole of a peculiar bolt, using supernuinerals therewith to designate special parts. y

D is a heinispherical head matching' in the interior of the part D2. Adjacent to the head the bolt is square, as indicated at D2, Fig. 5. The remainder of its length is Soren-'threaded Its general outline is indicated by D3. A thumb-nut E is tapped on the part Ds of this bolt. The-arm G, which is conlined thereby, is finished correspondingly concave on two opposite faces. The nut E has its acting face swelled to correspond with the spheroidal sulL face ol the part 132.

Il is a thumb-screw inserted through the opposite end of the arin G and tapped through aLsufliciently-thiekened portion of a spring I,

vwhich is equipped with lips I' I2, adapted to engage in corresponding pockets formed in the back of the lamp and to serve as a earrier for the latter. I shall refer to this as the carrier.

I prefer to use with this invention the style oi' lamp set forth in the patent to ine dated June 4, 1895, No. iOQG, but any other style of lamp may be used which is equipped with pockets to receive the lips I I2 of this spring. The outline of such lamp is indicated by Jin the several figures.

As shown in Fig. 6, the hole through the upper part of the arin G is square, and as shown in Fig. 5 the square portion of the IOO bolt projects beyond the face of the spherical bearing B2 to enter and fill said hole. This permits the arm G to be moved into either of the notches b2 and adjustably clamped in one of four positions ninety degrees apart. This adjustment is independent of the four positions in which the arm may be adjusted on the square portion of the bolt.

That face of the upper end of the arm G which is presented against the spheroidal bearing B2 is hollowed to the saine curvature, affording a fair bearing between the spheroidal surfaces, allowing the arm to be set in either of the several positions above mentioned, so that the outer end of the arm will be moved rearwardly to a greater or less extent and hold the lamp in a slightly-turned position to throw its rays to either side or upward or downward, according to the notch b2 occupied.

The arm G, and consequently the lamp J, may be held quite stiftly with the bolt D in the central portion of the aperture b2, but in such case it is held only by the friction induced bythe tightness with which the nut E is set up. The four branches or rectangular pockets in the aperture b2 allow of an additional locking. Vhen the arm extends upward or downward, a little change in the inclination forward or backward will cause the bolt D to assume an angular' position, bringing its square portion D2 into the upper or lower pocket, and when thus placed it will be held not only by the friction induced by the tightening of the nut, but also by having its rectangular portion held in the pocket as a rectangular screw-head is seized by a wrench. If it is desired to incline the lamp to the left side, this is easily effected by liberating the parts and turning them so as to bring the square portion D2 of the bolt D into the pocket on the left side of the hole b2; or, if it be desired to incline the lamp to the right, a corresponding` movement is made, bringing the square portion D2 of the bolt into the pocket on the right side of the aperture. The tightening' of the nutE` holds it lirmlyin any of these positions.

Another more radical change in the adjustmeut is effected by liberating the parts and turning the arm G to the right or to the left or downward. The latter position is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The same provisions are available for holding the arm at a variety of inclinations while extending downward. That is to say, if the arm is inclined forward while extended downward it will bring the square portion of the bolt D into the uppermost of the rectangular pockets. If the arm is rolled to the left or to the right while extended downward, it will bring the square portion of the bolt'into the correspon ding right or left pocket of the aperture b2. The lamp may be inclined backward to a small extent while in the depressed position as far as is permitted before it makes contact with some obstruction.

A considerable downward inclination can be given to the lamp, notwithstanding the presence of the square-shanked screw D, by turning the arm G into an inclined position, inclining to the right or to the left from the central swivel. Fig. 6 shows it thus adj Listed and the screw E omitted in this ligure. In this position the rectangular pockets in the edges of the aperture b2 are not available to receive the square portion D2 of the bolt, and the rigidity of the iixture, unlike the other conditions described,wil1 depend on the tightness of the grip of the nut alone.

The arm G may be adjusted to extend horizontally to the right or to the left, and in either of these positions the pockets may be available to hold it iirmly. Fig. t shows such a position. lf it is to be partially revolved, so as to present its face inclined downward, the square portion D2 of the bolt is received in the lower pocket of the aperture b2. lf it is to be similarly set to look a little upward, the square portion may be received in the upper pocket. If it is to be inclined backward or forward, so as to incline its face and reflector outward or inward from the center line of the road, the square portion may be received in the corresponding pocket at the right or left side.

It remains to describe one more adjustment to which I attach importance. rlhis is attained by temporarily removing the nut E from the bolt D, taking off the arm G and turning it so that the face which has been presented before to the nut E shall be presented to the spherical bearing B2, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. When this change is made, the clamp A2 should be det-ached from the dashboard and the entire device reversed, so that the lamp in the new position will still present its face forward in the direction that the carriage is moving. Thus conditioned, the crook in the arm G will hold the lamp further rearward, so as to bring the plane of the lamp nearly over the dashboard instead of holding it considerably in advance thereof, which latter results from the previously described adjustment. Vith the holder in this position all the changes above described may be made, except that the arm G cannot, obviously, be extended downward.

lt will be observed that the screw H, which holds the carrier-spring I to the arm G, is capable of being removed andinserted through the parts in the opposite direction. This gives another range of adjustments.

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lf in any adjustment of the parts the lamp I presents its front in the wrong direction, it is obvious that the evil can be remedied by simply unclamping the device from the dashboard and reversing it thereon.

The spherical quality of the swivel which connects the arm G to the clamp is of more consequence than simply to allow the lamp to be set a little forward and backward 5 it allows the lamp to be' inclined to the right or left and upward or downward. Vhen the lamp is equipped with a concave refiector, the light is concentrated near the axis of the reflector. This is an important quality, allowing the light to be projected forward directly at a level or to be inclined downward upon the road and turned more or less to either side, as desired.

Modilications maybe made without departing from the principle or sacrificing the advantages of the invention. A flat portion with an aperture may take the place of the hollow hemispherical portion A2 of the clamp A, as indicated in Fig. 5H. The working face of the nut E need not be strictly spheroidal;`

it is only important that it be adapted to reach into the spheroidal cavity in the arm and make a firm contact. The spherical contact is only important on the other face, the contact of the arm G with the swell B2. The hinge, at A b, may be variously modified, so that there is sufficient strength and freedom of movement.

Parts of the invention can be used without the whole. Much of the benefit can be attained by attaching the arm G in some other manner to the lamp as, for instance, without the spring I and without any slots in the lantern to receive the lips thereof. The arm G might be secured with thumb-screws tapped directly into a suiiiciently thiol; back in a lantern, or with an extra piece attached in any convenient way. Ilig. 7 shows such a modification. I prefer the .construction represented in the principal figures.

My lamp-support can be attached to other places than dashboards. The clamps A B will go on various other parts of a carriage or buggy; as, for instance, the side irons that are on the side of the seat, sometimes in the form of a handle.

I claim as my improvementl. In a lamp-support, a pair of dashboardengaging clamps, and their operating-screw, one of said clamps having a hemispherical part provided with a central opening' and intersecting slots b2, in combination with a lamp-supporting arm mounted on a swivelbolt having a head bearing in the hemispherical clamp and a squared portion extending through the opening thereofJ and a clamp-nut E, the arrangement being such that the squared portion of the bolt may be moved into either of the vertical or horizontal slots Z22, and retained by bearing therein against rotation to hold the arm and lamp to throw more of the light upward, downward, or to either side, substantially as herein specified.

2. In a lamp-support, a pair of dashboardengaging clamps, one of which has a hemispherical part provided with a central opening and intersecting slots b2, in combination with an offset arm for supporting a lamp and m onnted on a bolt swiveled in the hemispherical part and having a square portion, the opposite faces of the engaged end of the arm being curved to secure a proper bearing when reversed, together with a clamp-nut E, substantially as herein specified.

3. In a lampsupport, a pair of clamps adapted to engage with the dashboard of a carriage, in combination with a lamp-supporting` arm *having its end provided with a squared opening, a swivel bolt having a squared portion extending through an opening in one of the clamps interseoted by a slot h2, said squared portion also entering the corresponding opening of the arm, together with a clamping-nut, su bstantially as herein specified.

In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth I afix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEIVIS F. BETTSl IVitnesses:

J. B. CLAN'rcE, M. F. BoYLE. 

